Glen Ellyn village manager hopefuls field questions

Three candidates for Glen Ellyn village manager told residents what they would bring to the village during a town hall-style forum Tuesday.

A village-hired search firm has gathered 82 applications for the position since January, and village trustees met with the top six candidates last week. They narrowed the list down to three, and Tuesday was the first time the public had a chance to question the job seekers.

The candidates are Bryon Vana, currently the city administrator of Darien and a resident of unincorporated Glen Ellyn, Mark Franz, the village manager of Homewood, and David Forrest, municipal administrator of Norristown, Penn.

Each talked about their backgrounds and answered questions from residents.

Vana, who has lived in the community for the last 13 years, said he’s been involved in the local schools and churches, and has a “good pulse” on Glen Ellyn.

“You don’t get the chance often to serve in a capacity in the community you live in and raise your kids,” Vana said. “That’s unique to my profession and I would be honored to serve in this capacity here.”

Vana, who started his career as a code enforcement manager in Bensenville 25 years ago, has been in Darien since 2002. He previously was village manager in Bensenville and Winfield.

As Darien’s budget officer, Vana said he has first hand knowledge of financial issues. Having helped establish a central business district along 75th Street in Darien, Vana said he would work with village staff to carry out Glen Ellyn’s downtown strategic plan.

He said he isn’t good at tooting his own horn, but did quote from an email he received from a reporter who was leaving the Darien beat.

“He said he found Darien staff one of best to deal with in terms of transparency and open government,” Vana said. “It was an email I never deleted.”

Franz, who has worked in municipal management for 15 years, was hired in Homewood in 2003. He said economic development has been a major priority in his current job, as he’s administered four tax increment financing districts and worked to improve the village’s Halsted Street corridor. He compared it to Glen Ellyn’s “fairly vibrant” Roosevelt Road corridor.

He also said Homewood has striven for an “18-hour downtown,” making it an attractive place to be at night. Downtown areas may not have as much car traffic as major thoroughfares like Roosevelt Road, but they can be made a “destination point,” Franz said.

Franz said Homewood has had good working relationships with other governmental groups. In 2005, the village set up a consolidated joint dispatch center with five other towns for police and fire services.

Forrest has been working for municipalities for 15 years, and has been in Norristown, located near Philadelphia, since 2007. The towns in which he has served in administrative roles are “tougher communities that have a lot of challenges,” compared to Glen Ellyn, he said. They have lower tax bases, high concentrations of poverty, and more challenges with economic development.

“From the towns I work in, this is like nirvana,” Forrest said. “You can’t get any better than Glen Ellyn.”

He said there are opportunities to improve the downtown, and suggested mixed use developments with residential and retail near the train station. Such “transit-oriented development” could attract younger people, who might be able to afford housing at lower price points, if such developments are made available.

In Norristown, Forrest said he’s been involved in bringing a $40 million office development project to town, and the establishment of a shade tree commission, which has resulted in the planting of 300 trees.

Village President Mark Pfefferman said he hopes to make an appointment, with the advice of the village board, by May. Terry Burghard has served in an interim role as village manager since Steve Jones stepped down in November.